Information on Ashlynn from Marcov was incomplete or so it seemed. Some things seemed so out of place and she had been moved as if out of precaution. It wasn’t a dead-end per se. The information given was still valuable but more was needed to get her back in his clutches.
That was what Vilpamolan had to offer. The price he was willing to pay to find out her next location was high or at least it was in his opinion. The tavern creaked a bit differently and his magic flared. “I wouldn’t if I were you..” A feminine voice called out as she grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her. “No, no, no,” Simone wagged her finger at him before he could act once he caught the scent of the girl. “I wouldn’t. You know Ashlynn is a very pretty girl. A tad bit too skittish for my taste though.”
“Tell me where she is now or I’ll kill yo–”
Simone’s hand unfolded in front of him revealing cut hair. A good chunk of it too. “She’s fine but that all depends on you.”
“Do not play with me.”
“You played with me first,” Simone clicked her tongue as she moved around the table and sat down in front of him. “Dirty, dirty taking my husband like that.”
“Aren’t you connected?” He detested small talk but he was aware of his surroundings.
“Always but we can block out parts if we want. Like, right now he thinks I’m writing erotic novels at my guild.” She propped her head up and looked at him. “See, the only reason I’m even going to let her live…”
“If you fucking touch her-” he started to threaten but Simone held up a finger.
“Don’t threaten me. I’m honestly not all that intimidated by you. As powerful as you are its nothing that I haven’t dealt with in the past. Demon, human, fey… You are all the same. Making power plays for what you believe is yours. I think I would be doing her a favor if I just killed her now. Let Angelus cry his sorrow out and he could move on. Humans tend to do that easily enough. It would be easy. She’s fragile, scared, and she trusts me. I could easily do it any number of ways.” Damien was getting angry and Simone gave him a look. “Don’t even think about using your powers.”
“What’s made you so confident,” he was seething as he looked at the little woman.
“A gaes is powerful and they can be so powerful that not even the gods can break them. You word your promise right and you can spin a web around anyone. Faeries use this for the sake of hospitality all the time. It’s simple, Damien,” she used his name and tilted her head, “she’s under a gaes of my doing. Try to hurt my family again, and that means anyone I deem family, and she dies. See it’s really easy to see how you could fuck this up and how many ways you can. No matter how powerful you are… You aren’t powerful enough to break a sacred promise.”
Damien curled his hand into a fist and glared towards Simone, “You wouldn’t. She’s innocent.” He tried to gauge the woman based on the information Marcov had given him. It had all been on Lewis but Simone was shrouded in mystery.
“Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what she is. As far as I’m concerned she’s just a pawn on a chessboard. She’s no one I care about. She’s of no importance to me. I could rip her heart out right now and then go take a nap not even a few inches from her corpse. Use her blood to entice and fuck Lewis. The only reason I’m not killing her is that you remind me of Lewis. What you did is exactly what he would do. And since you do remind me of my beloved Lewis… I decided to be merciful.”
“By putting killing magic on her.”
“By putting a leash on you,” Simone corrected him. “It’s amazing how much I can find out about her in such a short amount of time. Her likes, loves, fears… For example, how much she loves Angelus… and how much she loves you. I could, I guess, destroy you another way too… Making her absolutely terrified of you. She would never willingly go with you.” She thought about it. She tapped her fingers on the table. “And because I am in such a forgiving mood… since you weren’t the one who skewered my husband and I… and you aren’t Marcov, who’s death is all but decided at this point… I’ve decided to throw you a bone.”
Reaching into her pocket she had a folded map, “Raile’s been moving them at Angelus’s request for the past year or so. I’ve met her a few times since I’m one of the only people who can get near her without fucking getting drained. Something about a synthetic body and the resonance,” she looked up at Damien who went to snatch what she had. “AH AH AH!” She yelled as the corner of the map start to catch fire. “Do you want it or not?” The paper was smoking into a slow burn.
“Give me the damn paper!” He yelled as the building shook.
“I don’t know… You are giving me an awful lot of attitude,” Simone gave sass back to the demon.
“What kind of game are you playing?” His eyes narrowed down on her.
“A game that ensures that you leave my family the fuck alone. It was pure coincidence that you even ended up being the one who abducted Lewis. And it’s because of that, that I’m offering an olive branch of sorts.”
“Stop fucking with me and get to the point,” he slammed his fist on the table and Simone held a bored expression.
“Fine, as I said she is under a gaes that if you were to hurt anyone I deem family and she can’t stop you that she will die. It will be instaneous. I’ve heard human hearts explode from breaking a gaes. She doesn’t even realize she’s under one, I made sure not to even prick her pretty little finger.”
“HER HAIR!”
“I gave her a haircut,” Simone shrugged her shoulders. “Told her it would be cuter to have it a bit shorter in length. Of course, I didn’t tell her I needed it for this.”
Ashlynn was safe this was good. He calmed down but his eyes moved to the paper. “What do you want for the paper?”
“There’s a library in Endapano that has a book on Night phoenixes. They don’t like me so I can’t get it through positive means. I have a reputation to keep as a writer you see… So having Lewis do it would just be very bad for me. Get me the book. I’ll even give you the paper now… but of course…” She held out her hand and it was swirling with magic. “You will pay the price for it… I’m in no rush but I really do need that book for my own benefit.”
“If you are lying… I will burn every inch of your precious island,” Damien reached his hand towards hers.
“If I was going to lie I would think of a better way to do it. I have my insurance on you already, I don’t have to give you this map. If they get moved again there are circles on it for where they might get moved to. So I would work fast. Angelus is doing guard work for merchandise and they follow a caravan sometimes which is why they can move so easily.”
“How the hell did you find all this out?”
“The caravan owner is my investor.” She shrugged a bit. “And my advertiser for my book series. A family friend if you will. Getting this information on Ashlynn was easy enough once Jerome opened his mouth. It was just a matter of recalling every word both of you said in front of me or Lewis. Conscious or unconscious it doesn’t really matter for the two of us.”
“Color me curious, how are you alive?” He looked at the petite woman who could barely hold a candle to the power he possessed.
“Spite, I hate losing,” Simone shrugged. “I have enough hatred for Jerome that it could fuel bringing me back from death at least another hundred times.” There was a small smirk. Finally, they shook hands and the gaes took hold. “As promised,” she held out the map for him to take.
“So, they weren’t having difficulties because you were strong,” he narrowed his eyes on her. “You are smart.”
“So Lewis says,” Simone twirled her finger. “I like moving my own chess piece even if someone else is using me. Le fou meurt pour le savant.” She waved her hand at him. “Best get on the move if you want your darling back. Though, if she’s as in love with Angelus as she is you… You might just shock her to death if you aren’t careful. Best come up with a plan for a fragile heart like hers.” Simone left as eerily as she had shown up leaving Damien to plan his next move.
“And where, pray-tell, do I take the book to give to you?” Damien said under his breath.
“Figure it out. You are smart,” her voice was in his ear like a melody but she was nowhere in the room. “It’s not like you don’t know where I live now.”
